Kevin Durant

10/30/2012

Since the Dallas Mavericks decided not to blow it up and opted for a revamped roster than a destroyed roster the playoffs are a possibility.

The Western Conference is not the same Western Conference it was a few years ago when the eighth-seeded team won 50 games; the playoffs are viable for the Mavs.

The last time the Mavericks did not make the playoffs was the 1999-'00 season, when they had great players such as Gary Trent, Robert Pack, Rodrick Rhodes, Cedric Caballos. How did that team ever lose?

This season, making the playoffs is a major score. The playoffs. Period. That's it. No Finals. No West Finals. The West quarterfinals would merit a parade.

A safe number for the Mavs would be 43 wins to secure the eighth seed.

Below is a look at the number of wins for the eighth-seeded team in the Western Conference in each season since 2000:

06/13/2012

You very likely have already seen this, but this is a worth a look at least "not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven" ... in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night in OKC, Thunder forward Kevin Durant served up a delish entree known as "Basketball" to Chris Bosh. Enjoy ...

06/12/2012

The 2011-'12 Dallas Mavericks may have been Thunder food in this postseason, but one year ago today they were America's Favorite Team after they prevented Miami Heat G/F LeBron James, G/GM Dwyane Wade and F Chris Bosh from winning the first of their 15 consecutive NBA titles.

On June 12, 2012 the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Heat in Miami 105-95 to win their third consecutive NBA Finals game and end the series, 4-2.

It was Jason Terry, not Dirk Nowitzki, who led all scorers with 27 points. Dirk had one of his worst games of the playoffs; he was 9-of-27 from the floor, and 1-7 from 3. But he finished with 21 and 11, and was named the Finals MVP.

Of all the developments that occurred during these Finals, the most memorable was Terry calling out LeBron after the Game 3 loss and then out-playing the King the rest of the series.

Take a look at how dramatically different the box score from the Mavs' final game of the 2011 season compares to the final game of their 2012 season.

Kevin Durant is 23, and on the verge of owning the NBA world. Vince Young is 29, and on the verge of being out of the NFL.

The second overall pick out of Texas by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft, Durant is a physical freak of nature who was blessed with the dexterity of a guard and progressively improved his game to where he is one of the top three players in the world. He projects a calm, humble, nice guy image and is one of the rare athletes who is raising the image and profile of his entire community.

The third overall pick out of Texas by the Tennessee Titans in the 2006 NFL draft, Young is a physical freak of nature who was blessed with the frame of a linebacker, speed of a running back, yet never progressed after he left Austin. He tried to project a humble, nice guy image but it never seemed to work.

On the same day Durant plays in what should be many NBA Finals games in his career, the other former Longhorn doggedly tries to hang on to his time as a pro football player.

Young, who is hanging on by an NFL thread with the Bills as a backup to Ryan Fitzpatrick, is suing his former agent, Major Adams.

VY claims that Adams took a lot of money from him, and now it can't be accounted for.

Was VY a bit arrogant when he came out of UT, and surrounded by a cast of enablers? Yes. But that does not mean this is a fun story, nor is it time to gloat. This is just sad, and another painful example of what can happen when people who don't "make it" the way they envisioned don't keep a close on their bank account.